James Gurney

This daily weblog by Dinotopia creator James Gurney is for illustrators, plein-air painters, sketchers, comic artists, animators, art students, and writers. You'll find practical studio tips, insights into the making of the Dinotopia books, and first-hand reports from art schools and museums.

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or by email:gurneyjourney (at) gmail.comSorry, I can't give personal art advice or portfolio reviews. If you can, it's best to ask art questions in the blog comments.

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All images and text are copyright 2015 James Gurney and/or their respective owners. Dinotopia is a registered trademark of James Gurney. For use of text or images in traditional print media or for any commercial licensing rights, please email me for permission.

However, you can quote images or text without asking permission on your educational or non-commercial blog, website, or Facebook page as long as you give me credit and provide a link back. Students and teachers can also quote images or text for their non-commercial school activity. It's also OK to do an artistic copy of my paintings as a study exercise without asking permission.

"Doug Anderson and Dennis Nolan." He read their names and studied my face. "Why do you want to go to Canada?”

“We want to go to the museum to look at the paintings of a guy named John William Waterhouse.”

The second thing I should have realized was that it’s stupid to make smart remarks.

“How do you all relate to each other?” he said.

“Very well, thank you.” I glanced over at Jeanette. Her eyes widened. She wasn’t smiling. Neither was the guard.

He snapped the passports shut. “I see that two of you have never been to Canada before. We would like to get to know you better. Please pull over to Detention Building 2.

We sat in a bleak room with a lot of desperate looking people and signs about FIREARMS written with capital letters. An hour went by. Finally my name got called. A hard looking lady started asking me a bunch of questions. I pulled out the sketchbook. What did I have to lose now?

“Could you make this take as long as possible?” I asked. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to draw your portrait.

This time it worked. She looked through the sketchbook and actually smiled a little and eventually sent us on our way.

20 comments:

Hilarious story. Reminds me of a similar incident on our way into Canada, where the border guard asked if we had any firearms, grenades or ninja stars. My friend smartly answered, "No, but if you've got some, we'll take 'em."

That won us a chance to meet more of Canada's finest and a drug-sniffing dog.

Not to stereotype, but in my experience, Canadians really are wonderfully polite and friendly. But I have noticed those characteristics are tamped way down in anyone wearing a uniform at the border. I've attempted the level of humor you summoned with the "relate" comment and got a similar response -- from both the guards and my wife.

Wish I could make the trip to see Waterhouse. Looking forward to your report.

Dennis Nolan looks very familiar. Wasn't his portrait in an earlier post?

That sounds like a wonderful trip! I'd love to see those paintings!I like the watercolor town study you posted as well.

I have experienced a similar border experience. We got pulled over and they searched our luggage. They reached for a big one we called 'the cube' - we grimaced visibly, we did not want them to open it ... the searcher thought they had something on us... what they didn't know is that the 'cube' was a condensed suitcase full of underwear and socks which went FLYING EVERYWHERE as soon as it was opened. They let us go after that.

Coming back into the country can be a hassle too. I went with my father to claim my grandmother from detention at the Tijuana border crossing. Someone in her group tried to slip something past customs.

“Could you make this take as long as possible? If you don’t mind, I’d like to draw your portrait."

... wonder how often they hear that phrase?? It sounds like something Chandler from "Friends" would come up with, only in his case, it would be dripping sarcasm, while I guess that you actually meant it!

We've gone to Canada for years and they're much more fierce since 9/11. We went once in 2002 with our regular laptop apiece. Our car had an Air Force Base parking sticker, from my husband's work need to enter the base regularly, though he's not military.

They pulled us aside, searched the entire car, flipped through all our reading material, asked us with great suspicion why we had two laptops along (computer geeks, what can I say?) and what country's Air Force we worked for. We made no joking answers, since we had Canadian reservations for a great vacation due!

I'm sorry you had this experience; it seems that being humourless is a requirement for being hired as a border guard.

Actually, I'm surprised that they let two of your party in without a passport. Since the US created the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, I think you are supposed to have a passport to enter Canada, and, more importantly for you guys, to return to the US. I hope you have an OK time re-crossing the border....